The wonders women weave

From Gujarat to Kenya, an apparel and home décor label is quietly empowering women in rural areas.

If you are a working woman, and if you wear an Okhai kurta to your office, then basically you are creating a working woman in rural India,” says Kirti Poonia, head of Okhai, a brand that specialises in rustic apparel and home décor with a contemporary design, made by women living in rural India. “The relationship is not one-way, though,” she adds. “The woman in the rural village is also creating beautiful pieces for you to wear to work.”

Supported by TCSRD (Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development), the seeds for Okhai were sown in the drought-stricken region of Okhamandal in Gujarat, where people primarily relied on agriculture for their livelihood. It began as a small self-help group, with just a handful of women from the Rabari tribe in Mithapur, making handicrafts and clothes with appliqué, heer bharat and kathi designs, and bead work. Last year, Poonia stepped in as the head of the brand, and Okhai embraced the world of e-commerce.

Most of the rural women who make products for Okhai need not step out of their house. They all work from home, therefore they are able to tend to their daily chores and make a living as well. The process begins in Ahmedabad, where the design team — comprising artists from design schools across the country — come up with contemporary ideas that complement the tribal and rustic craft of the artisans. In addition, research also goes into which trends will appeal to the urban hipster. The design template is then sent to the villages, along with little kits. “The little kits contain the raw materials. If, for example, we are making a pouch with mirror-work on it, we will cut out only that much fabric, exact number of mirrors, and a zipper,” explains Poonia.

The 500 women artisans are divided into groups of 20, under a leader. The kits are delivered to the leader. “We send out the kits to the villages in little auto rickshaws. The week after that, once the leader is done with quality checking of her group’s work, the rickshaw zips through the village and picks up all the products, and brings it back to Ahmedabad,” Poonia shares. From there, the products are washed, ironed and barcoded, to be shipped once a sale has been made online.

Apart from empowering women, Poonia sees an additional benefit in this process. “Distributed manufacturing, I think, is a solution to many of our problems. Migration is a big issue, with everyone moving to big cities — but not all can afford to live there and maintain a certain standard of living. If products are manufactured outside the city, there is no reason for them to move there in the first place,” She also points out that if manufacturing outside cities is not encouraged, then only 10 or so cities in India will flourish, while rural areas will languish.

The recent demand for products has made the outfit expand to other locations, like Lucknow, renowned for its chikan embroidery. “They recently had their exams, which is what we do before setting up shop anywhere,” says Poonia. “We gave them a panel, and asked them to replicate it. We then graded them. Those who scored high get to do delicate and intricate work. Those who don’t get simpler tasks, such as running stitches.”

The collective is indeed looking further afield. In April, Poonia visited Nairobi in Kenya to conduct a design-development workshop for a group of 40 women belonging to the semi-nomadic warrior tribe of Maasai. The Maasai tribe are known for their gorgeous traditional bead work, and the women taking part at the workshop were asked to make panels, which would later be turned into body jewellery. “They were amazing! These 40 women are capable of churning out 2,000 pairs of earrings in a month,” says Poonia. “The funds are now going back to them — all the products that were made by them were sold by Lush Angela, a Nairobi-based designer.” However, the jewellery made in Kenya is currently not available in India. “Importing it here is a bit of a task right now, but it is definitely a possibility in the future. We are officially launching in Kenya in December, so we should have a few products to offer by then. When I hear women beam and say excitedly that ‘I used to take money from my husband, but now I give money to him!’, I see the respect and selfesteem these women have garnered through their work. How can that not be gratifying?”

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